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Engineering | Safe Engineering

Week Four – National Safety Month 2014

As the end of June comes closer, we move into the 4th Week of National Safety Month 2014! This week focuses on “Put an End to Distracted Driving – Pedestrian Safety and Walking Hazards”.

According to the “Pedestrian Danger Index” conducted by the National Complete Streets Coalition, the state of Arizona came in in 8th place and the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale area came in at 9th in the entire United States for areas most likely for pedestrians to be hit and killed by vehicles (Courtland 2014). Using the “Fatalities Map” provided by Smart Growth America, the group that conducted the research, between 2003 and 2010 there have been 287 pedestrian fatalities within a 10 mile radius of Arizona State University (Dangerous 2014).

ASU’s Environmental Health & Safety department wants to make sure that all of ASU does their part to prevent any pedestrian accident, whether on campus or off. In their June monthly safety topic, they included several tips:

  • When walking, use all appropriate pathways and crosswalks. Jay-walking is both illegal and dangerous. It’s important to make sure the driver sees you before crossing streets. It’s better to assume no one can see you then assume everyone will stop safety!
  • Get involved and take safety courses for driving ASU vehicles. If you are required to drive an ASU vehicle (golf cart, cars, trucks, etc), you are required to take both the “Defensive Driver” and “Driving on the Mall” courses provided by EH&S before you will be allowed to drive any ASU-owned vehicles or drive on behalf of ASU.

Check out the following links for helpful information and to sign up for those driving safety courses!

http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/
https://ehsaweb.asu.edu/
https://cfo.asu.edu/ehs-training

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Courtland, Jeffrey. “Arizona Ranks among Most Dangerous for Pedestrians.” The Arizona Republic, 20 May 2014. Web. 24 June 2014. <http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/2014/05/20/arizone-ranks-among-dangerous-pedestrians-abrk/2287662/>.

“Dangerous by Design 2014.” Smart Growth America, 24 June 2014. <http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/research/dangerous-by-design/dbd2014/fatalities-map#/?address=847%20W.%209th%20Street%2C%20Tempe%2C%20AZ%2085281>.